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Upanishads : " The Cream of Vedas"
Vedanta ( Veda +anta i.e; the end of Vedas ) as the literal meaning connotes comprises the philosophical portion of Vedas, called the Upanishads.
Of about 280 Upanishads unearthed so far, 108 have been accepted as authorised texts , and out of them have been commented upon by great Acharyas lika Sri Sankaracharya , Sri Ramanjacharya, Sri Madhavacharya and thus are classified as major.

It is also true that in between rains when the frogs together sit up and croak their throats out, as it were, in non-stop palpitations, the folks of the world have come to expect a greater shower of tearful rains to descend upon the melancholy fields.

Similarly, in life, through conscious and unconscious misdeeds, when men as a community of misguided enthusiasts come to slip down to the morass of world problems, there is always a descent of God-men upon earth, who bitterly condemn the age and boldly declare the glorious Truth, as in Srimad Bhagavad-Gita, and ere they go back, they seen that Dharma is re-established among mankind.

The nearest to the frog, then, in these aspects is a true Mahatma in his physical habit and behaviour in life.

If he is a true one, he lives away from crowd in some unknown valley of the Himalaya-s and lives there in meditation reveling himself upon himself; these men of perfection in their self-centred seclusion live all alone the life meditation : by themselves in themselves.

During the rainy season ( Caturmasya ) they come out into the world to roar the Truth, which would certainly sound crude and rough to men of sensuousness and materialism.

The Seers know not how to sing melodious songs of sentimental poetry or emotional music.

They only know how to declare the Truth, unpolished and effeminate-ness, Truth in its native beauty and expression may sound as the cr…

So Mandukya Upanishad would becomen 'froggish' scripture, if I may be permitted to use such a word.

The reason, why of all the creatures, this particular creature, frog, has been given this great dignity as to be in the very title of the Upanishad, was explained to me by a Mahatma, and his words were, indeed, very appealing both to the head and heart.

The explanation is as follows : -

Frog is an animal that remains for about nine to ten months in a year hibernating either in the mud at the bottom of tanks and water pool or among accumulated dirt and rubbish.

They thus remain the major part of the year in seclusion and quietude, seemingly meditating upon themselves, renouncing all activities, all desiring, dem…

Thus, according to Sri Swami Adi Sankaracharya, this construction of the Rishi-s is to indicate that the theory of the Vedantam has been now brought within the penumbra of the student's understanding.

The statement "that this is the Truth" is only a direct statement by the Rishi to indicate to the student that he has explained all that has to be explained, and that there is nothing more for the Master to explain on this topic to the student.

Rishi Angira is the Guru who gave this discourse in the ancient times.

So far the theory and discussions were about a goal of life, pointed at a distance, to be achieved by the seeker, and so, naturally, it is to be pointed out by the pronoun"that" :

Here in the Upanishad we have the statement that "this" meaning the goal that was pointed as Utopia, which has now become so near to us in our intellectual grasp as to be pointed out by the pronoun "this".

Seeking thus for a goal of life, that seeker reaches the steps of his Master's asramam.

Naturally, his question can only be, "Is there not, O Master, a possibility of an existence which is Eternal and Infinite, which is divine and blissful, which is perfect and satisfying?"

To this query, the Master's answer throughout this Upanishad is "Tat Tvam Asi" --- "That Thou Art" ---
meaning, that which you are seeking is really Thy Own Eternal Nature; you have only to realize it by awakening yourself into that plane of God-Consciousness.

A disciple reaches a Master after living a life of perfect vitality, intense appetite, full awareness, and insatiable thirst.

Inspite of his brilliant of his brilliant and full living of the varied circumstances in life, he comes to discover that among the impermanent, he cannot hope to gain a joyous state of the permanency and peace.
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Next : Discussion-2. "Tat Tvam Asi" ..... Part-2
To be continued .....

MATHRU-PUJA -IN CHINMAYA MISSION ( CHILDREN PRAY AND DO PADHA-SEVA TO RESPECTIVE MOTHERS)

"That and This" : - It is very often a peculiar usage in the Upanishads, which is nowhere else so frequently seen in the entire Smskrtam literature.

And whenever such a usage comes up in the Upanishads, Sri Swami Adi Sankaracharya is never tried of repeating the meaning in it which is very significant, since it declares in itself the very technique of Vedantham --- the most practical religion of the world, that is our Sanatana Dharmam namely Hinduism.

Explanation :-
"That is the Truth.
Rishi Angira communicated this to the disciples in ancient times.
No one, who has not observed any vow ( renunciation ), is fit to study this ( Upanishad ).
Our Salutations to the Great Sages : our prostrations to the Great Seers."
Next : Discussion-1. "That" and "Thi…

A modern translator makes an intelligent guess that this may be a reference to the Sannyasa ceremony and his guess seems to have another support in the suggestive meaning of the very name of the Upanishad --- Mundaka, which indicates the shaving of the head.*

This too is gross and ugly meaning read into a beautifully scientific statement of the Rishi-s.

Thus, to all those who have the above mentioned six great qualifications, : -

This, in fact, can only be a figurative expression to explain that a student of the Upanishads
must have a burning desire to intellectually grasp the meaning of the panorama of life.

Only an intellect that is on-fire, demanding to know immediately a way out or an escape from the realised limitations of life, that can ever hope to understand and live the divine values of the inner life as advocated in the Upanishads.

"It is this intellectual quest, this 'intellect-on-fire', that is meant here as a qualification for a true student of this Upanishad."

All other explanations are only ugly mis-representations of the spirit of Sastram.